Welsh cash ‘papers over the cracks’

An extra £8m allocated to social services departments next year in Wales will only “plaster over” some of the cracks in fuding, the Welsh Local Government Association has warned.

Although the WLGA welcomed the money, outlined in the Welsh assembly government’s draft budget for 2007-8, it said it would do little to help councils meet growing demand for adult social services.

The extra £8m is ring-fenced for services for children with special educational needs, to fund foster care allowances, and to deal with migration and refugee pressures. WLGA social care policy officer Beverlea Frowen said: “This will prevent some of the cracks from widening, but we’re now starting to see funding constraints in the NHS having an impact on adult care.

“Social care has to fund ridiculously expensive and complex care packages and we need a debate about how we’re going to continue doing this in the future.”